SUL Gear List for Colorado

[Jordan Calicott]

Hey yall, my friends & I are planning a weeklong backpacking trip this summer to Colorado. Does anyone have a SUL gear list that is suitable for the different weather conditions that someone may encounter in Colorado that they could share with me? I've never backpacked in Colorado so I don't know what gear I should pack. Could anyone who has gone on a trek or who lives in Colorado tell me about the weather patterns for the summer? What is one of the best trails to hike a week on?

[Zack Karas]

Hi,

I've not gone SUL, but I've lived in CO for most of my life and have hiked the Colorado Trail and the CDT. In summer you can basically set your watch to the thunderstorms in the high country. From 1-4pm you can expect to be dodging lightning if above treeline, so you may need to plan your timing across passes accordingly. The temperature typically will hover around freezing at night and in the day the mid 70s once you are in the mountains.

If you have a week and are comfortable with off trail travel, I would recommend hiking from Grand Lake to Silverthorne on the CDT (simply amazing!), or anything in the Weminuche wilderness (CDT route along Creede/Lake City to Wolf Creek Pass above Pagosa Springs especially). For trail hiking, the Colorado Trail from Salida to Creede/Lake City is very easy to follow, challenging and the scenery is hard to beat.

Hope this helps.

[Summit CO]

The weather here is great in the summer! Be prepared for CONSTANTLY changing conditions. We do have a monsoon season as mention above. Overall, the weather is capable from going from calm to howling wind to freezing rain to sunny to lighting storm to hail to snow and back to sunny in less than an hour ;)

I know that doesn't really help with keeping light since one must be prepared to deal with all types of weather… but it is waht it is here

[Richard Matthews]

My 3 season bag is 20 degrees. I have seen snow on the 4th of July.

Normally we have short intense storms, but in 2006 there was several weeks of drizzles.

The other posts give great trails.

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